


First Official Date-Date

by henry_amargosa



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: Awkwardness, First Dates, M/M, Star Wars References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-20 02:38:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3633570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/henry_amargosa/pseuds/henry_amargosa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jude and Connor go on their first official date-date, but the schedule changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Official Date-Date

“Right this way, gentlemen.”

The restaurant’s host turned and led Jude and Connor into the dining area. As they walked past tables that mostly held couples like themselves, the boys noticed that they were easily the youngest people in the room, though few of the other diners gave them much notice. Jude clasped his hands together and nervously rubbed them. He had painted his nails a special deep shade of blue for the evening, and he glanced down briefly at his war paint. Jude was wearing slacks and a blue button down, while Connor had opted for his nice jeans (not the ones with the holes in them, which Jude secretly loved) and — surprise, surprise, a yellow plaid shirt, though tucked in this time.

Their table was along one wall of the restaurant, but near the middle of the room. Connor, walking ahead of Jude, sat along the wall, facing the rest of the diners, while Jude’s view on the other side of the table was mostly restricted to his new boyfriend.

It had only been a few months since Connor had been shot and they had taken the first tentative steps into their relationship. Connor still walked with a slight limp, something his physical therapist said will eventually disappear. Since school had been out for the summer, the boys had seen a great deal of each other over those months. They tended to stick to playing video games or going to skateboard along the boardwalk or practicing their hitting at the batting cages or the empty fields at the school. Connor had even come along on another Adams Foster camping trip, though Stef and Lena made him sleep in his own pup tent. Jesus, of course, complained that Connor got his own tent while he had to share with Brandon and Jude. (“Connor’s tent is much smaller, so you have the same space,” Stef said, smacking Jesus lightly on the back of his head. “Besides, we still haven’t gotten past the Hayley incident.” Jesus tensed and blushed as the whole family giggled. Connor just looked on confusedly. “I’ll explain later,” Jude whispered.)

Jude and Connor thanked the host when he handed them their menus. They looked around a bit at their surroundings, silently taking in the restaurant.

“This is nicer than the places I usually go with my dad,” Connor said. “See, they have a real tablecloth. And these little candles.”

“We’re more of a Chinese take-out or pizza delivery kind of family, so we never eat out much either,” Jude replied. Connor nodded, remembering the many meals he had eaten around the Adams Foster table, a solid number of them served from cardboard containers.

“Yeah, but, your moms make the best take-out,” he said, grinning.

Jude was nervous, but still giggled at the joke. Though the boys had spent a lot of time together, this was their first official date-date. Jude had decided a week ago that their time playing catch in the backyard didn’t exactly count as true couples stuff. He thought about asking Brandon or Jesus for advice, but given both of their track records with girls he wasn’t really keen on talking about it with then. And Callie was away, spending a week with her father and half-sister on a boat somewhere. So he decided to go to Mariana, because she was really good at planning things.

***

_“Oh my god!” she had squealed when he asked her for help planning a date-date. “That is so cute. You two are so adorable.” Jude just rolled his eyes a little and let her carry on for a minute. “OK,” she said after calming down. “A classic date-date is dinner and a movie.”_

_“We eat dinner and watch movies all the time,” Jude responded._

_“No, silly,” Mariana said. “You go to a restaurant, a nice, sit-down restaurant, not a McDonalds. And then you go to a movie theater and see a romantic movie.”_

_Mariana continued talking to herself, weighing whether two guys would want to see a “chick flick” or whether it was OK for a gay couple to see some other movie, but Jude just remembered back to the time he and Connor had held pinkies when they saw that movie with Daria and Taylor. He hadn’t told anyone about that, even his moms. He liked keeping that as a private moment in their lives, since he had told Lena about his and Connor’s first kiss, in the tent on the camping trip._

_Jude and Connor’s first official date-date was ultimately planned out by Mariana. Jude felt so confused by all the options that he just went with what she suggested. Jude was sure it would be a very nice night, but he still felt like he had butterflies in his stomach. That’s how they ended up at the Italian restaurant tonight._

***

Jude was lost in the menu when their server startled him back to earth. “Good evening, I’m Casey and I’ll be your waitress tonight,” she said. The boys looked up at her tentatively. Jude noticed Connor’s forehead was scrunched slightly, something he did when he was apprehensive. “Tonight’s specials include a linguini and mussels in a white wine-shallot sauce, and grilled mahi-mahi atop a bed of angel hair pasta with a lemon butter sauce. Can I start you off with beverages?” She looked at them, eyebrows raised.

“I’ll just have a Coke, please,” Jude said. “Yeah, me too,” Connor added.

“Great, I’ll be right back. Let me know if you have any questions.”

Jude looked at Connor. “Do you know what a shallot is?” he asked.

“No,” Connor said. “But I can find out!” He pulled out his phone and typed a few words into the search browser. “I think it’s a kind of onion,” he said after a second. He looked up at Jude. “Eww, onion sauce?” They both giggled.

Jude ended up ordering fettuccini alfredo, and Connor got chicken parmesan. As they waited for their food, the two sat looking at each other awkwardly. Jude was about to speak up just to break the silence when Connor quietly said, “There’s a lady over there with the biggest hair I’ve ever seen. It’s seriously crazy.” Jude started to turn his head, but Connor hissed, “No, don’t turn! It’ll be too obvious.”

Instead, Jude tried valiantly to look with the edge of his vision, turning his head only slightly. He finally gave up and just turned his head. Fortunately, the woman wasn’t looking his way, and he got a chance to check out her huge hair. “Mama’s hair is bigger,” he said, turning back to Connor. “Oh yeah, maybe,” Connor said. “But it works for her. This lady’s hair just looks silly.”

They sat silently for a few more minutes. Jude was worried; if Mariana had planned the perfect date, he shouldn’t be feeling so… not nervous, he realized. Bored. Jude was kind of bored. And he hated feeling that way when he was with Connor. Jude was itching just to do something, rather than sit here waiting for their dinners. He made eye contact with Connor, and he just knew his boyfriend felt the same way.

“Do you…” Jude asked, trailing off.

“Um, yeah,” Connor said. “Do you really want to see that movie later, either?” “No,” Jude said. “But it was the only one playing that I was really interested in.” Connor nodded slightly.

They sat awkwardly for a few more seconds, not making eye contact. “Hey, uh, I have an idea,” Jude said. As he told Connor about it, his boyfriend perked up. They agreed, and Jude pulled out his cell phone to call Stef.

“Hey mom, can you come pick us up and take us home? No, everything’s fine. But we’ve decided to change our plans. OK, thanks.”

Just then, Casey returned with their dinner. “Um, could we please get this to go?” Jude asked. “Sorry for the change.” “It’s not problem, I’ll go wrap these up right now,” she said. “Could I get extra garlic bread?” Connor asked. The server nodded, and smiled a little as she walked away.

“Mom will be here in a few minutes,” Jude said, and Connor nodded. They sat a minute longer in comfortable silence before Casey came back with their dinners in disposable containers. “Now this is more like an Adams Foster dinner,” Connor joked.

***

Mariana came sprinting down the steps, watching carefully for errant skateboard, with heels in hand. She popped into the living room to slip on her shoes, but screeched to a halt when she saw Jude and Connor laying side by side on the couch. Jude’s legs were stretched up on the coffee table, and one of Connor’s legs was lying across them, the other bent to touch the floor. They each had empty take-out containers lying nearby. They were watching one of the Star Wars movies, though which one Mariana couldn’t even begin to guess.

“What the… I thought you guys were going out to a movie?” she asked, plopping down in the armchair to put on her shoes.

“Yeah,” Jude said, pausing the movie. “Thanks for the help planning, but we decided to do this instead.”

“But your first date-date” — Jude could practically feel Connor blush next to him — “is supposed to be at a nice restaurant, followed by a movie.”

“We’re not really into that,” Jude said. “We wanted to do this instead.” Connor nodded.

Mariana saw through the window Mat walk up to the porch and knock on the front door. “I gotta go,” she said as she walked out. “I don't get it. I just don't get it,” she muttered.

Jude resumed the movie, and Connor reached down and grasped his hand, squeezing it lightly. They both laid on the couch, watching their movie, until a few minutes later Connor turned to Jude.

“Do you have any cupcakes?”


End file.
